BJP to launch protests across Karnataka tomorrow over murder of 28-year-old Santosh
Keeping up the pressure on the Congress government in Karnataka in an election year, the BJP today said it would launch a statewide protest tomorrow over the murder of one of its workers. 28-year-old Santosh died in hospital after he was stabbed in the JC Nagar area of Bengaluru around 7.30 pm on Wednesday. Police say all four accused -- Wasim, Phillips, Umar and Irfan - have been arrested.
The BJP says Santosh was putting flags and buntings for a party rally to be held in the city on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend the rally that's part of the party's 'Parivartan Yatra'.
"Another BJP karyakarta is killed in Karnataka. This isn't just political violence, this is political terrorism, the same kind that we see in Pakistan," tweeted the BJP's Karnataka unit.
Citing "rivalry" as the reason for the killing, police said there was a dispute between Santosh and Wasim for the past three months. "They had various issues, one of them was the sale of ganja by the accused," said Deputy Commissioner of Police C Rathore.
But the BJP put out a different version. "Santosh had organised a kabaddi match a fortnight ago and had put up a number of saffron flags around the ground, something Wasim objected to," said senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister R Ashok.
Security has been increased in the area and the case has been handed over to the city crime branch. "The proper reason or motive of the murder will be known only after the investigation," said home minister Ramlinga Reddy.
The RSS and BJP claim that 23 of their workers have been killed during the years of Congress rule. The state government denies this and says personal enmity or other reasons were behind at least some of those murders. Karnataka votes in a few months from now.